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Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an American car manufactured by Ford. It was originally based on the platform of the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.1 The original 1962 Ford Mustang I two-seater concept car had evolved into the 1963 Mustang II four-seater concept car which Ford used to pretest how the public would take interest in the first production Mustang. The 1963 Mustang II concept car was designed with a variation of the production model's front and rear ends with a roof that was 2.7 inches shorter.2Introduced early on April 17, 19643 (16 days after the Plymouth Barracuda), and thus dubbed as a "1964½" by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.4 The Mustang has undergone several transformations to its current sixth generation. The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American muscle cars, affordable sporty coupes with long hoods and short rear decks5, and gave rise to competitors such as the Chevrolet Camaro,6 Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin,7 Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda, and the second generation Dodge Challenger.8 The Mustang is also credited for inspiring the designs of coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were imported to the United States. Shelby Mustang The Shelby Mustang is a high performance variant of the Ford Mustang which was built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1968, and from 1969 to 1970 by Ford. Following the introduction of the fifth generation Ford Mustang in 2005, the Shelby nameplate was revived as a new high-performance model, this time designed and built by Ford. For 1967, the GT350 carried over the K-Code high performance 289 with a 'COBRA' aluminum hi-rise. The GT500 was added to the lineup, equipped with a "Ford Cobra" V8 (FE Series 428 cu.in.) engine with two 600 CFM Holly four-barrel carburetors sitting atop a mid-rise Aluminum intake manifold. Documented plans to introduce a convertible mid-production year were shelved due to supply, production and financial problems that happened as soon as the first cars started to arrive at Shelby's Los Angeles facility in September. By October 1966, Ford took control over engineering and purchasing.14 A.O. Smith was tapped to fix the fiberglass fitment and quality problems. Six months later, in May 1967, the decision was made to terminate the California-based Shelby operation. On August 18, 1967, a small staff, along with the remaining engineering cars, was sent to Ionia. The small staff of the newly formed Shelby Automotive, Inc. had substantially less involvement after this time. Notable cars for 1967 include: * 0100, the first GT500 built. * 0131, the only Shelby GT coupe built ("Little Red'), which was the precursor to the '68 California Special * 0139, the only16 Shelby GT500 convertible built (in 1967) Note: cars 0100, 0131 and 0139 were the first big block Shelby GT cars ordered and built. * One 1967 Fastback was updated with a GT500 equipped with a 427 FE GT40 racing engine producing 650 horsepower, and was known as the "Super Snake"17 The car was capable of speeds over 150 mph; hitting 170 mph during a demonstration (by Shelby himself) of Goodyear's Thunderbolt tires.18 No cars other than the prototype were built due to limited interest. The car sold at Mecum's 2013 Indianapolis auction for $1.3 million.17 For 1968, the Cobra name was applied to both models, and they were now marketed as the Shelby Cobra GT350 and the Shelby Cobra GT 500.19 The solid lifter K-code engine was discontinued by Ford so Shelby used the hydraulic lifter 230 hp 302. It produced 250 HP with the high rise intake but was not equipped with Shelby headers in order to make room for power steering. The early 1968 GT500 used the Shelby installed 428 Police Interceptor with a single four barrel carburetor rated at 360 HP.Category:Cars Category:Muscle Category:Pure Muscle Category:Ford